Thermostat wiring question

I'm trying to install programmable thermostats for my baseboard electric heaters. The new thermostat only has 2 wires, whereas the old ones have 4. I plan to wire up the new one by simply combining the 2 reds and the 2 blacks off of the old thermostat into the new one.

That is;
1. Cut all 4 wires off the old thermostat
2. Combine the 2 red and attach to wire 1 on the new thermostat
3. Combine the 2 black and attach to wire 2 on the new thermostat.

Is this the right approach?
Thanks,
-Shannon.

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Thermostat wiring question

NEC requires line voltage thermostats to be a double pole.
Apparently your new ones are not double pole. So they do not meet code.
Your home owners insurance may not cover you, if you use these thermostats.
may want to contact them before installing those stats.

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Thermostat wiring question

I'm in Canada and I'm pretty sure single pole is allowed.

But w.r.t. wiring, I'm not sure how to proceed. If I do what I described in my first post (combine the reds and the blacks on the old thermostat) I will be mixing reds and blacks coming out of the wall.

Or, should I make my two connections by combining all the reds out of the wall and all the blacks out of the wall and connecting the new thermostat to them?

If you can't tell from the picture;
There are 2 wires coming into the box (containing a red/black each) and 1 wire on the bottom left (containing red/black too).

Thermostat wiring question

I see 4 wires coming from the thermostat and what looks like 6 wires coming out of the box. I also see red wires connected to black wires and vice versa. Looks like some strange wiring I'd want a pro to sort out.

Thermostat wiring question

I had friend (who is an electrician) come and look at it and this is how you do it.

- Remove the old thermostat
- Tie all the reds together. This connects the source power to the thermostat and the exiting wire. With the 3 black wires remaining;
- Two are already paired. These two complete the connections for the source power and the exiting line. Leave them together.
- Place the thermostat between the paired black and the single black.
- When the thermostat is on, it closes the connection and power runs through the heater.

Also, my friend told me he doesn't see many double pole thermostats being installed these days. It's mostly all single pole.